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ANIMAL

P ETS
HEROES
More ways and reasons to love our pets

CAT IN THE BOX

Masha is a stray cat. Her long, thick hair keeps her warm during the bitterly
cold winters, and many neighbors feed her as she roams the streets.
One frigid night, Masha spotted a cardboard box in the chilly hallway of an
apartment building. In the box was a tiny baby! The infant boy was dressed—
but not well enough to protect him from the cold. Masha climbed inside the
box and cuddled the child. Her warm body kept him comfortable and alive.
Several hours later, when someone heard the baby cry, he was discovered
and rushed to a hospital.

KIDS CAN BE HEROES TO PETS, TOO!

THE NOSE KNOWS
Luke, age 7, and his dog, Jedi, are pals, buddies, best friends. Luke is
diabetic, and Jedi is his Diabetic Alert Dog. Jedi is trained to use his
nose to detect when Luke’s health is at risk and then alert an adult.
Late one night, Luke was asleep in a bed near his mother. Jedi
was also nearby. Without his knowing it, Luke’s blood sugar level
dropped—a danger to someone with diabetes. Jedi smelled the
change in Luke’s breath and sprang into action. He jumped on and
off the bed to wake Luke’s mother. When this didn’t work, he laid his
body on top of hers. This woke her up. Then Jedi bowed; that’s his
way of saying that Luke’s blood sugar is “low.” Luke’s mother was
then able to care for him.
Daisy the dog was homeless, dirty, and hungry when she arrived at the
animal shelter. After being washed and fed, she was put into a kennel.
Daisy had always run free, but now she was alone in a tiny room. She
crouched in the corner, shivering with fear.
One day, Daisy heard a child’s voice and perked up her ears. A little
girl was sitting beside her kennel, reading a book out loud. The more the
girl read, the less Daisy shook. After a few minutes, Daisy crept closer
to the edge of her kennel. By the time the girl had finished reading the
story, Daisy had relaxed and crept as close to the girl as she could.
Some time later, a family arrived to adopt a dog. Daisy bravely
came to the front of her kennel to see who it was. She wagged her
clean, fluffy tail and won the hearts of the family. Now she has a loving
home. Kids who read to shelter dogs help the dogs to calm down. As
a result, the dogs are adopted more quickly.
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OH, RATS!

KHAN DO
When a young family went to the animal shelter to adopt a pet,
they did not know how important their choice would be. The family
immediately befriended Khan, a Doberman Pinscher that had been
abused. Khan seemed to like them, and he was the same height as
the family’s 17-month-old daughter, Charlotte.
Four days later, as Khan watched Charlotte play in the yard, he
suddenly sensed danger. A large, poisonous snake was slithering
toward the girl. Khan tried to push Charlotte away, but she wouldn’t
budge. Just as the snake was about to strike the child, Khan gripped
his teeth on Charlotte’s diaper and tossed her about 3 feet to safety.
The snake instead bit Khan’s paw! The family rushed him to a vet, who
gave the dog an antivenom shot that enabled him to soon recover.
P ETS
African pouched rats can spread diseases and destroy crops, so some
people jump to conclusions and think bad things about Henry, a
21 ⁄ 2-pound African pouched—that is, until they learn how useful Henry
and his friends can be.
Henry and other African pouched rats are being trained to smell TNT,
which is contained in land mines. (Land mines are set in the ground
during wars. Many innocent people have been hurt when they have
stepped unknowingly on hidden mines and exploded them.) The rats’
job is to run into a field and sniff for TNT. They don’t weigh enough to
set off the pressure-sensitive mines. When a rat smells the explosive, it
scratches the spot where it is buried. The trainer, who holds the animal
on a leash, marks the spot for professionals who will later remove the
mine and then gives the rat a treat.
In 1 hour, Henry can locate more mines than a human with a metal
detector can in a day. Every tasty treat that Henry and his buddies earn
saves lives.

FIRE ALARM
Patience the cat didn’t have much patience early one morning
in 2015. As her family slept, smoke began filling their house in
Loyalsock Township, Pennsylvania. The kitchen was on fire! Patience
jumped onto her owners’ bed and yowled to wake the family. It
worked! Everyone escaped safely thanks to impatient Patience.